Battery plaques having a compressible, 75% to 95% porous, fiber metal network, capable of being loaded with wet active material, are well known in the art, and are taught by Long et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,430, and by Brown et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,960. When these plaques are loaded, they can be used as electrodes in nickel-iron, nickel-cadmium, silver-zinc, and other type battery systems. The active material is preferably thixotropic, and of low water content, such as that taught by Seidel, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,198. This type of active material is usually hand pasted, roll coated, squeegeed, vacuum impregnated, or centrifuged into the plaque.
To date, trial and error has been used to determine optional loading procedures, with consequent trial loss of plaque and active material. There is a need for a active material loading process, which is uniform and economical, and which will provide for optional loading of a plaque with active material by control of final sized thickness, based on the volume of active material to be retained in the electrode knowing the required capacity of the electrode.